Car body construction



April 15, 1941. H PIRON cm BODY CONSTRUCTION Filed March 9, 1939 Patented Apr. 15, 1941 CAR BODY CONSTRUCTION Emil, H. Piron, New York, N. Y., assignor to Transit Research Corporation, a, corporation of New York Application March 9, 1939, Serial No. 260,813

8 Claims.

This invention relates to car body construction and particularly to the side sills thereof and has for its object to provide a sill by which the weight of the body will be reduced while obtaining greater strength and to utilize the space within the sill as anair duct for car ventilation.

In conventional construction sill sections extend between vertical posts thusrequiring car wall sheets of suificiently heavy construction to transfer stresses from one post to the next. Since the sheets are secured directly to the side sills and posts accessibility to the sheets for repair is difficult. It is, therefore, an object to provide a continuous side sill lying outside of and extending along side the ends of the cross-beams and connecting the cross sills and the posts, and which acts as spacer means for the wall sheets from the cross sills and from the posts. This side sill is of angle metal construction thus allowing maximum accessibility and since the sill is of increased stiffness the wall sheets carry less stresses and may, therefore, be oflighter gauge metal.

In view of the necessity ofproviding definite center pin locations, it is difiicult to. locate crossbeams and posts directly by correlating their spacing as is done in tubular bus. structure designs. The side sill must be retained and it is, therefore, another object to provide a simple side sill for the transmission of stresses from posts to side sills in a longitudinal direction only-that is, to connectposts and cross beams not located in the same plane, to locate air ducts outside the posts and to cover the assembly by an outside sheet which forms a duct wall.

Another object is to provide a side sill which may be described, rather loosely, as of Z section with the mid portion thereof serving as the base of a triangle and to provide a plurality of stiffeners for the side sheets arising. from said base and extending'upwardly to or, preferably, above the belt line. As many stiifeners as are. found necessary may be used, there being no particular reason for limiting their number to the number of posts.

A further object is to provide an improved appearance for the interior of the car by eliminating the step formed by the usual air duct in favor of a gently sloping inside. wall which forms a wall of my duct of triangular section. The slope of this wall is controlled by side sills thickness and by the distance it travels upwardly in converging toward the outside sheets.

Other objects and advantages will become more iully apparent as reference is had to the accompanying drawing wherein my invention is illustrated and in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmental vertical cross-section of a car body, taken on a plane indicated by the line II on Fig. 3.

Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are sections taken respectively on lines 2-2, 33 and 4-4 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 is a sectional perspective View of a detail, and

Fig. 6 is a fragmental section taken on the line 6-45 of Fig. l. I

More particularly, I designates the main horizontal portion of a longitudinally extending side sill having an upwardly extending flange 2 arising from the inner edge thereof and a downwardly extending flange 3 depending from the opposite edge. The flange 2 forms an acute angle with the main horizontal portion I and the flange 3 substantially a right angle therewith. At intervals throughout the length of the side sill cross beams 4 have their adjacent ends secured thereto by brackets 5 and 6. Although not here shown, it will be understood that both sides of the body are substantially the same in construction, and the cross beam ends which are broken away may readily be imagined as being connected to a side sill similar in construction to that shown.

At spaced intervals throughout the length of the side sill I channel shaped posts I arise from the outer edge thereof at least to the belt 8, above which are provided window openings 9. Secured to lateral flanges III on the posts 1 are sheets II, preferably of metal, and strips [2 are likewise secured to said flanges to cover the seams between the sheets II. The upper edges of the sheets II are secured to the belt 3 and the lower edges to the flange 3, preferably by rivets.

Secured to the flange 2 at spaced intervals corresponding to the spacing of the posts I are channel-shaped posts l3 which converge with respect to the posts I, and envelop the upper portions of the posts 'I. The posts I3 likewise have lateral flanges I4 whose upper portions are secured to the lateral flanges III with the same rivets I5 which secure the flanges ID to the plates II.

A liner IE formed of sheet material, preferably composition board is secured to the posts I3 by screws H, the heads of which are covered by metal trim strips I8.

As may be seen upon reference to Fig. 1 the main portion I of the side sill is of substantial width and the angle of convergence between the sheets II and the liner I6 is such as to provide a substantial space I9. The space I19 may be utilized as an air duct for car ventilation.

As shown in Fig. 4, posts l3 are provided at the ends of each of the cross beams 4. It will be understood, however, that location of the posts is not dependent upon location of the cross beams, and in the event further stiffening is desired additional posts may be provided between the cross beams.

What is claimed is:

1. In a car body, a plurality of cross-beams, car body Walls comprising sheet material extending past the ends of said cross-beams, a side sill extending past the ends of said cross-beams longitudinally along each side of the body, each sill having an upstanding portion at its inner edge connected to the adjacent ends of the beams and a depending portion at its outer edge connected to respective walls and constituting means for connecting and spacing said walls from the ends of said beams, posts attached to said first named portions and arising from said sills at intervals therealong between said walls and the ends of said beams and converging into contact with said walls, and a liner forming a cover for the upper surface of each sill overlying the inner edge thereof and extending substantially thereover and thereabove and forming an air duct therewith and with the adjacent wall, said liner being attached to said posts.

2. In a car body, a plurality of cross-beam car body walls comprising sheet material extending past the ends of said cross-beams, side sills of angular cross-section extending longitudinally of the body at opposite sides thereof and each having one portion connected to the opposite ends of said cross-beams, the other portion of 3. In a car body, a plurality of cross-beams, l

car body walls comprising sheet material extending past the ends of said cross-beams, side sills of angular cross-section extending longitudinally of the body and each having one portion connected to the ends of said cross-beams, the other portion of said side sills extending outwardly from the ends of said beams, said walls being secured to the outer edge of said sills, posts arising from said sills between said walls and the ends of said cross-beams, and inside liners covera l ing said walls and said posts, said liners extending downwardly to said sills, said posts having a thickness less than the distance between said walls and said liners whereby an air duct open longitudinally is formed.

4. In a car body, a plurality of cross-beams, car body walls comprising sheet material extending past the ends of said cross-beams, side sills extending past the ends of said cross-beams longitudinally along each side of the body, each sill having an upstanding portion at its inner edge connected to the adjacent ends of the beams and a depending portion at its outer edge connected to respective walls and constituting connecting means for spacing said walls from the ends of said beams, posts secured to said first named portions and arising from said sills at intervals therealong between said walls and the ends of said beams and converging into contact with said walls, and a liner forming a cover for the upper surface of each sill overlying the inner edge thereof and extending substantially thereover and forming an air duct therewith and with the adjacent wall, said liners being attached to said posts and stifieners for said walls arising from the outer edges of said sills between said liner and said wall.

5. In a car body, a plurality of crossbeams, car body walls comprising sheet material extending past the ends of said cross-beams, side sills of angular cross-section extending longitudinally of the body at opposite sides thereof and each having an upstanding portion at their inner edges connectedto the opposite ends of said crossbeams, the otherportions of said side sills extending outwardly from the ends of said beams and having depending portions at their outer edges, said walls being secured to the depending portions at the outer edges of said sills, stiffeners for said walls arising from said sills near the outer edges thereof and secured to said walls along their length, and posts extending upwardly from the inner edges of the sills, said posts and stiffeners converging in pairs and having interfitting portions, said posts being secured at their lower ends to-said upstanding portions and at outer wall of "an air passage, liners diverging downwardly with respect to said walls and having their lower edges abutting said sills near the inside edges thereof and constituting the inner walls of the air passages, stiffeners for said walls arising from'said sill-s near their outer edges, and stiffenersfor said liners arising from said sills near their inn-er edges, said posts and stiffeners interfitting one another in pairs at their upper ends and diverging into spaced relation at their lower' ends whereby air may circulate between the lower end portions thereof.

'7. In a car body, a plurality of cross-beams, car body walls comprising sheet material extending past the ends of said cross-beams, side sills of angular cross-section extending longitudinally of the body at opposite sides thereof and each having one portion connected to opposite ends of said cross-beams, the other portions of said side sills extending outwardly from the ends of said beams and each forming the bottom wall of an air passage, said walls being secured to the outer edges'of said sills and each constituting the outer-wall of an airpa'ssage, liners diverging downwardly with respect to said walls and having their lower edges abutting said sills near the inside edges thereof and constituting the inner walls of the air passages, stifieners for said walls arising from said sills near their outer edges, and stiffeners for said liners arising from said sills near their inner edges, the stiffeners of said walls each'converging toward a stiffener of said liners and nesting therewith at and above the point of convergence thereby forming a vertical car post, the lower end portions of said posts and stiiieners diverging-into spaced relation whereby air may circulate therebetween.-

other portions of said sills, posts mounted on and arising from said sills between said walls and the ends of said cross-beams, and inside liners covering said walls and said posts, said liners diverging downwardly from said wall and having their bottom edges extending to and butting against the upper edges of the first named lJOrtions of said sills, the lower ends of said posts and liners being spaced so that air 10 may circulate therebetween.

EMIL H. PIRON. 

